Massue moungalaulau

Club moungalaulau
Tonga Islands
L: 124 cm 
Wood
 
Well-known for the luxuriant engravings covering their entire surface, this type of war clubs takes their name -moungalaulau - from their diamond-shaped end, looking like a crocodile’s muzzle. Alternating several sections adorned with chevrons and checkerboard patterns, the decoration is punctuated with little human and animal figures, sometimes isolated within friezes. A four-pointed star pattern marks out the edges of the club’s end.